In 27 BCE (Before Common Era) the Roman Empire was entering its golden age, “The Pax Romana.” During the Pax Romana, the citizens of all Roman cities enjoyed free food and entertainment along with access to all of the Roman amenities such as bathhouses, roads, and mail service. However in 180 CE (Common Era) the Roman empire took a turn for the worse and eventually the last empire fell in 476 CE. The once powerful Roman Empire was in shambles. So what happened to the empire?
Around the time of three-hundred CE, the amount of power started to decrease for Rome, Italy. Lots of the Roman emperors and people were killed at this dreadful time. But what really caused this sudden downfall? Will we ever really know? I think the three main reasons are: Natural disasters, foreign invasions, and the city’s military problems.
Week One Jewish Struggle against Hellenism Response Antiochus Epiphanes IV was a Greek Hellenistic king, and it was under his reign that Hellenism advanced throughout the region influencing every aspect of Jewish life except when it came to Judaism. According to Roetzel (2002), “Antiochus’s complete contempt for Judaism is, in fact, evident in the way he manipulated the high priestly office” (p. 12). Antiochus’s underhanded ploy to subversively control the priesthood only caused more contention among the traditional Jews. The contention between the traditional Jews and those who were compromising their religious beliefs with a pagan religion was on the brink of erupting into a civil war.
At this time the Jews inspired by a belief that the coming of their Messiah was imminent started a revolt against Rome on the Island. They were led by a man called Atermion a Jew who had taken a Greek name as was the custom at the time. There were hardly any Roman troops stationed in Cyprus at this time which explains why the revolt grew so quickly. The Roman emporer Trajan dispatched one of his generals to the Island and the rebellion was quelled. Historians say that 24Feature Articles,000 Jews were massacred on the Island by this roman army but there is a likelyhood that the actual numbers were significantly less.
Many people think of Rome as a great empire. Nevertheless, the Roman empire had more flaws than what one would think. Rome began around 750 BCE as a simple town. By 200 BCE, Rome was a powerful empire. The empire lasted for about 1,226 years before its “fall” in 476 CE.
Rome and Carthage were two great powers of ancient times. Rome mostly covered Italian territories and allied cities that she had conquered while Carthage was in the northern coast of Africa. Both cities had ambitions to go on and conquer other cities in order to become the World superpower leading to conflicts between them. Despite there being some similarities in the structure of government between the two governments in many ways they were different. While Rome had consuls, and a senate, Carthage had magistrates and a council of elders.
The expansion of the Roman Empire led to a greater divide between the rich and poor, a heavy reliance on agriculture, and more war. Those are just a few of the social, economic, and political changes that occurred in the Roman Empire during its expansion. In documents 5, 6, 7, and 9, the social changes of the Roman Empire are brought to light. Document 5 illustrates how the divide between the rich and poor classes widened.
In the book, The Roman Way, by Edith Hamilton, the author intends to show a lense into early Roman societies. The Roman civilization is explained by analyzing the writings of several of the greatest authors of the time including Cicero, who wrote many letters; Catullus, who was a poet of love; Horace, a historical writer; and the Romantic writers such as Virgil, Livy, and Seneca. The author is effective in conveying an understanding of what the Romans of the time thought and felt. She also shows what kind of legacy they left behind. This is why the book is a piece of literature that contributes to society in a positive way.
Causes of Rome’s Decline The Roman Empire was the greatest civilization the world had ever seen, it lasted over than a semi-millennium. For a such great, undefeatable Empire to collapse, there should be many powerful causes. There is an endless debate among historians about the different causes that led to this decline moreover, they couldn’t agree on the most influential factors. In this essay, these different causes will be explored and try to find the direct causes of this decline.
There is also a hint of the Romans being somewhat afraid of their god, which may have allowed them to get away with causing problems for both the law and in turn the Roman people. Dio Cassius goes on to say that the Jews arrived in “Rome in great numbers” and started assimilating many of the Roman people. However, eventually “Tiberius banished most of them from the country” . While Suetonius says that they caused many “disturbances” and were also banished from Rome. Horace tells that because they are becoming a large majority group, they would insist that you convert to their religious beliefs .
The views on Christianity throughout Rome changed immensely from the early years of the empire through the fourth century. For a while, Christians were looked at as a threat to many because of their belief in monotheism. Nero and his followers persecuted and punished the lower class and women who followed Christianity as well as use them as political scapegoats. As time went on, the tolerance for Christianity in Rome grew and Christianity gained acceptance. By the fourth century, Christianity was the official religion in Rome.
The initial attempt for Romans to create a code of laws was the Laws of the Twelve Tables. The laws, were said, to have come about in order to eliminate tension between the patricians (privileged class) and the plebeians (common people). The Twelve Tables included Laws relating to debtors, inheritance, marriage, rights of a father, property, will and testament, and women. What rights did Roman citizens have according to the Twelve Tables? Roman citizens could not be sentenced to death unless they were found guilty of treason.
Written sometime between AD 56-58 in the city of Corinth, the epistle of Romans was composed by the apostle Paul in an effort to provide the Romans a firsthand account on the Christian faith as there has been much misunderstandings about Paul’s view on the matter. He wanted to hopefully enlist the aid of the Roman Christians for his journeys to the western parts of Rome but before that he must first venture to the city of Jerusalem to fulfil a promise he made long before of providing provision for the poorer community among the Christians there. He gives great importance to reciprocating the gift of Gospel that the Jews provided the Gentiles with him providing them with a share of their monetary asset. Although this gift may seem beneficial enough, it brought to surface a multitude of questions among the Jewish officials as an acceptance of this gift meant the legitimation of Paul’s mission to the Gentiles by those of the Jewish disciples. This legitimation of his mission meant also a legitimisation of his dispute with the church in Jerusalem headed by James.
The Romans believed that many things were wrong with the Christian faith. The first problem that they had with them was identity. The Romans first saw Judaism and Christianity as the same religion, but their minds were quickly changed. For the most part they left the Jewish people alone but viewed Christianity as a new cult, and as a threat ("Persecution
Even though Christians were persecuted on and off during the Roman Empire, Christianity flourished. In the early Roman Empire, when Claudius, Nero, Domitian, and Trajan were emperors, Christianity was banned and Christians were persecuted. Nevertheless, Christians found ways to spread Christianity, and many people converted. As trials occurred and the Empire lost good leaders, the people took security in Christianity and other religions. Christianity grew during the Roman Empire because Constantine helped create the Edict of Milan, Constantine had imperial favor toward The Church, and there was trade routes to spread Christianity to different areas.
